Friday, August 1, 2014

Summer Swan Song

I am TIRED you guys. So, very, tired. I was supposed to spend five glorious hours at Panera Wednesday working on work stuff but then our nanny got sick (probably caught it from one of the kids) and I ended up at home, which was fine because I was looking forward to being at home, but since I had the unexpected time I decided to chop down this bush (I call it the Whomping Willow) in our back yard that has been blocking one of our dining room windows for the last six months.

I started in on it with a pair of pruning shears but quickly discovered that half of it was actually a giant, thorny rose bush and that the actual tree part had a three-inch diameter trunk. When Charley saw me struggling with the thick branches he said "WAIT!" and ran inside. A few minutes later he maneuvered a six-foot long pole saw out the kitchen door and onto the porch. It sliced easily through the smaller rosebush branches and after nearly an hour, we got down to the trunk of the Whomping Willow. Charley pulled on it while I sawed and it finally came down and there was much excitement.

See that entire window that was completely obscured by leaves before? Wes came to the window blinking and dazed like "WOW IT'S SO BRIGHT IN HERE NOW!" He was inside because he was watching TV, which we pretty much did not turn off yesterday because DAMN.

I am covered in scratches and my whole upper body hurts but our yard looks so much better without that stupid tree. Side yard, where I dragged the decapitated Whomping Willow, looks worse, however.

After the little ones woke up from naps we went to a consignment store to find school shoes for Mary and James. The store has a kid play area so I took my time looking at every single thing that caught my eye in between taking people to the bathroom and trying shoes on a baby who does not understand shoes even a little bit and also talking on the phone with a friend. In addition to finding shoes for everyone I also found this skirt for Mary that is probably the most awesome article of clothing I have ever purchased, though I am having trouble finding a shirt that really works with it. And also it makes crawling nearly impossible. Worth it.

Thursday our only job was to go grocery shopping for dinner items but it still took us until after lunch (French toast) to finally get around to actually doing it. We tried to go this morning but I kind of freaked out because everyone was being such a pain and we turned around and went home to get the rest of the rose bush pieces out of the yard and watch a couple more hours of TV. We are just killing time until school starts so we passed a lovely forty-five minutes making slow loops around Trader Joes throwing whatever the hell we wanted into the cart. I realized when I got home that I bought like four kinds of cookies and way more pineapple juice than the four cans I originally approved. We saw a friend of a friend there with her son and she expressed amazement that I could grocery shop with four kids and I just kind of looked back with dead eyes like "Huh, yeah, thanks" and threw some Cowboy Bark on top of the two bags of heat 'n serve meatballs I'd selected for dinner. SO ELEVEN MORE DAYS UNTIL SCHOOL STARTS.

When we got in the car I realized we still needed diapers and new lunch boxes for school and we still had forty minutes to kill before naptime so we headed across the highway to Target. There was a small amount of arguing about how much a lunchbox should cost (less than ten dollars) and whether it should have flashing lights(NO) but eventually everyone was happy with their choice (Charley's is blue cammo with black skull and crossbones! Festive!) so much so that they stopped every random passerby between the register and the car so that all three of them could have a turn displaying their lunchbox.

When we were all buckled in James said brightly "Now we can go to school!" and I said distractedly "Yep! Next week you go to school!" and he said, less brightly, "I GO TO SCHOOL RIGHT NOW. I SEE SCARLETT AND GEORGIA AND LILI." He does not seem to understand what it means to go to a new school and meet All! Kinds! of Fun! New! Kids!! Tuesday could be disappointing, but HEY HE HAS A COOL SPIDERMAN LUNCHBOX SO YAY!! When we got home I lined up all the backpacks and lunch boxes and WOAH we have a lot of kids.

Today I schlepped everyone to the Good Playground where we met a friend and had a great couple of hours enjoying being outside in August, which is kind of unheard of where we live. Then we all went out for tacos. All the kids sat at their own table which was great for everyone. Then we came home to bicker in the pool (the backyard wading pool, that is, no one seems motivated to go to the real pool these days, since there's no chance of being run over by a lobster boat) all afternoon before Friday pizza/movie night. School starts for the little ones next week and the big ones the week after that and then my school starts the twenty-fifth and I just can't believe it's over! It'll be Christmas before we know it and then Charley will go to college. That's how this works.

2 comments:

Summer just flies by, man. I love that Mary has her own backpack and lunchbox - I need to get E a lunchbox! Cramming her bottles, refills, and food into her tiny Medela cooler bag just isn't cutting it anymore.

Me

The Odd Couple

Charlie (on the right) and Wes. On the beginning of Animal House, Charlie would be in the frat with the navy blazers and oxfords while Wes would be on double secret probation. They laugh, they cry, they have mud fights, they encourage each other to dance naked on the patio table. Most of all, they are brothers and they love each other. Violently.

The Kid who Thinks He's Still a Baby

James loves Mary, his brothers, and his parents, in that order. He's fiercely independent, but will tell anyone who will listen that he's still a baby. He's Mary's number one fan and has a doll he likes to dress in her clothes.

Baby Girl

Mary was born in August, the youngest and a girl in a house full of testosterone. She is laid back and happy and totally impervious to noise.

The Husband

Ryan, husband extroidanaire, smartypants engineer, throws small children many feet into the air, appreciates all attempts at cooking, "the fun one", supports the family with a smile, makes great pies.